Gold, War And A Doomsday Clock Approaching Midnight

Today one of the top money managers in the world discussed gold, war and a doomsday clock approaching midnight.

Gold, War And The All-Important Crossroads
August 8 (King World News) – Dr. Stephen Leeb:  The U.S. is at a critical crossroads. We’ve been approaching it for years, but recent missteps – specifically, our actions vis-à-vis Ukraine and China – have brought us abruptly to the edge. And there’s a lot at stake.

Our actions in Ukraine and our willingness to provoke the Chinese to where they appear to have rejected moderation in favor of open hostility have backfired, leaving us in a weakened position. We can choose to continue along this path, in which we are splintering the world into two parts with the U.S. and our relatively few allies forming by far the smaller part. Or – a much better option – we could decide to cooperate with nations whatever their beliefs and political systems so as to confront the enormous global and truly existential challenges that face us all as resource scarcities accelerate. Every misstep we make narrows the window of choice and makes more dire the consequences of choosing the wrong path.

A Very Bad Idea Goes Terribly Wrong
Nancy Pelosi as a diplomat leaves a lot to be desired. Prior to her recent stop in Taiwan, China had warned, with far more vehemence than displayed in the past, that it would consider her visit a violation of Chinese sovereignty and would respond aggressively. Pelosi stepped off the plane, which had to be rerouted as China had already begun military exercises, in a bright pink suit, anything but apologetic or demure. 

The Chinese response sent a clear message to the U.S. as well as to Taiwan and virtually all other countries in the South Eastern (SE) part of the world. China’s military games amounted to a more than three-day air and sea blockade of Taiwan, almost completely shutting the island off from foreign commerce, essentially blockading the Taiwan Strait, a 110-mile waterway between Taiwan and mainland China and one of the most traveled water bodies in international trade. China also barred exports of critical materials to Taiwan, including the specialized sands needed for construction, and cancelled climate and other scheduled talks with the U.S.

Evidence of the diplomatic impact of China’s actions came quickly at Pelosi’s next stop, in South Korea. In contrast to other countries she had visited, where she was warmly greeted by heads of state, South Korea’s two top leaders were on vacation – the equivalent of an icy shoulder. The U.S., meanwhile, rather than reacting with a military response –sending ships or planes anywhere near Taiwan – protested that China had overreacted. That’s diplomacy-speak for “we made a mistake and won’t try to stop you.” The Chinese left little doubt that it can, and if it’s pushed, will, take over Taiwan.

What China also communicated was that it no longer views the U.S. as a mere competitor. Rather, it sees us as a nation antagonistic to China, one that doesn’t adhere to the view that there is just one China, with Taiwan and mainland China irrevocably tied together. Pelosi’s visit was more a final straw in that view than an isolated incident. Until 2020, China had always talked about an inevitable nonviolent unification between Taiwan and the mainland. In 2020, it stopped including “nonviolent” in its rhetoric. I doubt that it was coincidence that it was in 2020 that the U.S. Army published in a military journal an article entitled: “Deterring the Dragon, Returning U.S. Forces to Taiwan.” The article, which cited studies by the Rand Corporation, concluded: “U.S. ground forces in Taiwan, particularly combat credible, heavy forces, could not only go far in repelling a PLA cross-strait operation but also serve as a tripwire that would inevitably trigger a wider conflict not acceptable to China. Most importantly, the presence of ground forces sends a clear message that the United States will support Taiwan militarily in a conflict with mainland China.” 

I’m not saying whether it’s right or wrong for Taiwan and China to unify. Rather, I’m just pointing out that for the past 50 or so years, no country in the world including the U.S. has espoused the idea of separate sovereignty. The universally accepted one-China policy was negotiated by the U.S. following Nixon’s visit to China. ……….more here

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